[Closed] Moving West

Not sure that Calne is villag-ey. Box to the west is nice. Acton Turville and Tormarton are nice, a little further north west. Sherston, didmarton and Hawkesbury upton nice villages too if a little quiet.

Devizes looked nice when I drove through.

Malmesbury and Tetbury are good value.

Thanks Wrecker, I'll do some Google image searches tonight. We're going to be doing a recce in a few weeks, so it's helpful to narrow the search slightly.

You're not alone in moving out of London/SE, and for the same reasons.
On that note, I would therefore avoid anywhere too close to the commuter routes back to London as London money is, I believe, pushing up prices there too... I think Bath in particular has shot up over the last year or so + Bristol to some extent. Obviously you can do some research and check that out properly.

Two people I know who moved out of London have gone to Bristol and are earning Bristol salaries but one couple I know moved to Bath and work from home/commute back in 2-3 days/week - so they've been able to put London salaries into their purchase.

On the other hand I know a few flats around South East London that went on the market in the last few months and they're dropping their prices after getting no viewings or hardly any viewings. Most new buyers now seem to be like me - given up and expect to rent for ever, or like you and are moving away completely....

Personally (since I did that same move a while back), I'd be looking at Bristol but it would add 30 mins to your route to Surrey hills.

As to the riding, There's plenty around - Quantocks/S.Wales/Cotswolds/Mendips/Bristol/etc though I'd personally hate to live somewhere I couldn't have half decent riding without having to drive to it.

If you want the bristol area, but want to commute east, look around the M46 north of the M4. The use of that little junction rather than the M32/A4174/Hambrook will save you a LOT of time. Places like Chipping sodbury etc.

If it were me I'd be seriously considering keeping a property in the SE and renting/buying a second home elsewhere as a solution.

Rental income in the SE would cover anything you might want elsewhere that was comparable and I know people who've moved away from SE and now can't move back due to disparity in house prices rises although it would suit them to do so.

I agree with that though from the OP, I read it as saying they didn't currently own a house. Could be wrong of course.

I'd be looking at Bristol but it would add 30 mins to your route to Surrey hills.

Bristol traffic is absolutely horrific, so I'd steer well clear.

It really depends where you are, mol. In the main, it's not as bad as Cardiff!

Not where I've been.

Last week when the M4 was closed I attempted to drive cross country from Winchester via Devizes, Chippenham, Bath, Bristol, Avonmouth and the old bridge.

It took ages, for sure, but I hit Bristol about 8pm when the M4 was back open, and it was still bonkers, took me about an hour to get round.

Areas around Stroud are quite nice and have good biking.

cross country from Winchester via Devizes, Chippenham, Bath, Bristol, Avonmouth

I wouldn't even have bothered trying - pull over, kip in car

Just around Chippenham in rush hour is a guaranteed car park

Chippenham was fine, no issues, Bath was slow but moved. Devizes was bad, but Bristol - omfg.

Bristol traffic is worse than London apparently mile for mile!

Bristol house prices are going silly too. Just sold my 1 bed flat for over £250k and prices are still climbing at about £5-10k per month for 1-2 bed properties that are the most popular. Talking >£750k for a large family victorian semi with a tiny garden/patin in cotham/redland.

Erm...the Op isn't talking about a city centre. The M32 and the A4 are absolutely dreadful at peak times, but the main arteries of most cities are. I can be on the M4/5 a lot quicker than anyone who lives in Bath.

Bristol house prices are going silly too. Just sold my 1 bed flat for over £250k and prices are still climbing at about £5-10k per month for 1-2 bed properties that are the most popular.

I assume that's a combination of the London money moving out and the idiots who think BTL is a licence to print money, having forgotten that interest rates won't stay low forever, and are getting themselves into a load of debt, having not read the financial papers recently and understood the outlook 😯

Cotham is no more representative of normal bristol pricing than southmead.

southmead.

Well, that sepends on whether you're in the Henleaze side of the double mini-roundabout in Southmead...or as I like to call it, Southmead-on-Trym. 😀

Sorry I'll clear up a couple of things. We do own a house in Westcott. We'll both be looking to move jobs, so won't be commuting back east. My parents are West Sussex and Surrey based, so will be making the trip back every few weeks.

I did think about keeping our current house, but it feels like a big step to manage two £450k houses. Maybe needs a bit more thought.

I typed southmead whilst thinking Hartcliffe! Southmead isn't cheap anyway!

And definitely not talking about either bath or Bristol centres. We want more sticks than that.

I lived in Ashton Keynes for a while, its tiny, no shops, nothing to do, absolute boredom, but at least it has a couple of pubs. Minety on the other hand is even smaller, has nothing, no facilities at all. Flat area, no mtbing. Malmesbury is better, it even has a couple of supermarkets, and maybe 10 pubs and restaurants! Calne, has a bad reputation ive heard, wild west....Tetbury nice, but long way from M4.
I liked Chiseldon, close to M4, good mtb on Ridgeway, rural but close to shops in Swindon.

Thanks ploeb, exactly what I'm looking for.

you might also consider further south. i used to use the a358 on to a303 quite regularly on friday evenings headed for surrey. all the traffic was going the other way. very rarely had any problems.

Looking for Surrey Hills access wouldn't A303.M3 be better? .So West Wiltshire would suit and your money would go a long way .Also direct train from Bradford on Avon via Bath to Bristol

Too far south guys. Need to be fairly close to junction 17 of M4 so we can take advantage of free childcare

Having lived in or near most of the villages listed in the areas broadly linked by Stroud - Chiseldon - Cirencester - Marlborough, most have decent technical riding within a half hour ride or ten minute drive. I've never ridden Surrey Hills so don't know how they compare. My thoughts on this:

Wroughton/Chiseldon (and the villages south of Swindon): mtbing within a few miles, but mainly bridleways (chalk/clay so lovely in the dry, slippery and waterlogged in the wet) and not too much twisty tech stuff (unless Croft Woods is your thing (although it's in Swindon)); two M4 junctions in close proximity, a few nice pubs; plenty of quiet-ish road riding;

Ashbury/Baydon/Lambourn: I only mention these because they're closer to Surrey/W.Sussex via the M4 or the A roads and some good deals to be found on nice houses with a village pub; similar riding to Chiseldon over the Lambourn/Marlborough Downs;

Tetbury/Malmesbury: relatively close to M4, not the hub of mtb'ing, more road riding but some nice bridleway loops which you can link into long rides out towards the Cotswolds escarpment;

Minety/Ashton Keynes/South Cerney/Cirencester: triathlon and road riding territory (Cotswold water park being nearby); bridleways for mtb'ing (but mainly horses), although you're a half hour drive from Cotswold escarpment with loads of nice tech stuff; 'quiet' lanes; plenty of local pubs in and around the settlements;

With all of these, as mentioned above, S.Wales is pretty close (Cwm Carn is 45 minutes with a clear run along the M4; BPW fairly similar) but loads of local potential and some hilly stuff south of the M4, if you don't want to stray too far and enjoy exploring. Ashton Court if that really takes your fancy. Also, loads of good local breweries serving local pubs to help fuel your rides ...

Used to live in Devizes, super wee town, loved it there.

Bit of a pain in the arse to get to junction 17 though...

Chippenham to ascot was around an hour each way, if you're looking to do that trip regularly then I'd get closer to the m4, Christian malford or similar

I am just in the process of a similar move from West Sussex and have settled on either Cirencester/Cricklade as you can get to the M4 quickly along the A419. The A429 would bring you directly to J17 on the M4.

I am gutted to be leaving behind good riding in the Surrey Hills and South Downs but the proximity of Wales, FOD, etc is exciting and justifies a new bike!

Our rightmove research suggests Malmesbury looks nice, [b]but we've been told to steer clear of Chippenham[/b]. Others that seem to pop up are Minety and Calne.

I don't think Bristol traffic is as bad as it used to be. I find Bath worse.

Anyway. Where is the OP having to get to for work?

Thanks everyone, I wasn't expecting such a response.

If you need secondary schools Chippenham has two excellent ones on the north side some of the ones in the other small towns have a poor reputation

Some of the villages on the main A roads suffer from high traffic volumes

Segray is worth looking at

Sutton benger is improving used to have a bit of a reputation (it had a chicken factory which closed and is being redeveloped for housing) + easy access to trains and M4